obscured
by perfectlyrose
Summary: The forest is a dangerous place. Impenetrable fog has descended on it for one day a month for as long as anyone can remember. There are stories of wolves and ghosts haunting the woods and tales of doomed lovers from long ago. Things are about to change though and maybe love will find a way after all. (Nine/Rose AU)
1. Prologue

Note: Originally posted October 2015, edited and reposted October 2016 :)

* * *

Fog descended on the Tyler Forest on the nineteenth day of the month like clockwork, no matter the weather. The mist seemingly emanated from the trees themselves, appearing everywhere at once, blurring the outlines of the ancient trunks until they were completely obscured by a wall of white. The fog ended abruptly at the tree line that demarcated the boundary of what had locally come to be known as Bad Wolf Woods.

There were stories about those woods. At first glance it seemed like a fairy tale with the single day of fog and the rumors of a pair of star-crossed lovers that had somehow caused the phenomenon's origin.

Calling it a fairy tale would be sugarcoating the truth.

The truth was there was no romantic fantasy with a cursed princess at the center of the forest waiting to be rescued by whoever could pierce the fog.

This was a horror story that haunted the woods and the town, one that grew more terrifying and outlandish with each telling, with every month and coming of the fog that passed.

There were tales told of people who were caught in the fog, who chose to try and enter it and were never heard from again. Those who did make it out were never the same.

Those who lived near the edges of the forest warned their children and every visitor of the dangers that lurked amongst the trees even on a normal day. When darkness fell, they would tell them to listen for the lonely howls of a single wolf. When it came, like it had almost every night for the last century, shivers went down the spines of visitors and caused those that had business taking them through the woods to walk quickly, jumping at every noise.

The wolf never howled on the nineteenth when the fog lay heavy and thick on the forest.

Even the townsfolk shuddered to think what horrors might lie hidden in the blanket of white that could drive the ancient wolf to silence.

Sometimes, instead of wolf howls, people swore they heard a woman singing.

There was a story from long ago told in hushed whispers of back when the common name of the area was the Tyler Forest and the fog had yet to plague the region. The tale told of a girl only nineteen whose name who had been lost to the fog and the years who had ventured into the woods to try and rescue her lover who was in mortal danger on the other side. The forest was not a safe place even then and it was said she met a grisly fate among the trees, that her blood had been spilled by the same malevolent hands that took her lover from her.

It was rumored that the earth was still stained red where her blood had fallen on that fateful day but no one dared to scour the forest to confirm it.

Her death triggered the fog, or so the story went. She was haunting the woods, endlessly and eternally seeking revenge on those who had kept her from her mission, who had ended her life. It was said she was at her most powerful when the forest wore her shroud of fog. There was no curse to be broken, no spell to be lifted to free her from her earthly existence. She simply wouldn't leave, as devoted in death to her doomed mission as she'd been devoted to her lover in life.

Those few souls who had made it out of the fog alive claimed to have seen her, to have spoken to her and been judged by her. They said she was waiting but no one knew what for. They claimed she was simply trying to keep anyone from entering her domain so they would not meet the same fate as her.

No one ever believed the tales of her benevolence, choosing instead to dwell on the persons never found and the terrible force of her misguided revenge.

She was the ghost story, the horror story that haunted the woods and only one thing was for certain - she was not a fairy tale.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rose Tyler walked through the fog, a bright spot of red fabric and blonde hair against the veil of white, a song on her lips. It was the same one she sang every night, the one that came out as howls on fogless nights.

She knew what the townspeople said about her and the woods that now bore her name twice over. She knew every story and rumor and whisper and how they'd evolved and mutated over the last century. Most of it wasn't true but some people had a few things right –- she was, in fact, waiting and her story was not a fairy tale, at least, not one they would recognize.

Rose's lips twisted upwards in a feral smile as she soundlessly neared the edge of the forest. It was an expression that humans and animals alike would recognize as predatory. She glanced at the fires lit by a few brave souls just beyond the boundary of the fog, trying to determine if any of them planned on entering her domain tonight.

Her smile softened at the sight of young lovers wrapped around each other who were using the townsfolk's fear of the fog to steal some time together. Rose wondered if they had to hide their love from their families, if that is what convinced them to venture so near to something they'd been conditioned to fear just for a few hours alone. It had been so long but Rose still remembered what that desire felt like, how the need to be together had burned through her veins like molten gold and how she'd risked everything to make it happen and to keep the one who made her feel that way.

It had ended in tragedy for her but it didn't always, and hopefully these two would be able to build their lives together.

She turned and started back towards the heart of the forest, letting the fog devour her as she walked. She dissipated with the mist as the sun rose on the twentieth to burn it away.

Only one more month to wait. One more month until she could finally put her plan into action.

Next month, he would come and the fog would descend for the last time.


	2. Chapter One

_Before the mist and the curse and the stars crossing and evil forces conspiring, before there was even the love that caused it all, there was a first meeting._

AN: *coughs* i have no defense for taking almost an entire year to update this but have a new chapter! (also I updated the prologue on Oct. 8, 2016 so I definitely recommend rereading it!)

* * *

 _ **One hundred years prior**_

Rose dashed into the forest, small basket hanging haphazardly off the crook of her elbow and a reckless smile painted across her face. She was supposed to be gathering the mushrooms and herbs that grew along the edges of the woods where sunlight still made it to the ground but she had a more important errand in mind than her twice weekly task for her mum.

It was the nineteenth day of the month and, if his pattern held, the travelling healer would be passing through the forest today on one of the lesser known paths.

Rose's smile didn't diminish an iota as she wound her way through the trees, following no set path except the one in her mind. She knew everyone was afraid of the woods, was unnerved by the stories of monsters and pockets of dark magic that were said to lurk in the deep shadows cast by the tall trees but she'd never felt anything but welcomed.

Her mum said it was unnatural the way Rose just seemed to know where to find the herbs and the mushrooms and the friendliest beehives when no one else could even begin to tell you where to look. It just came naturally to her just like it had to her father and his before him.

Jackie Tyler never understood the pull of the woods, couldn't comprehend the way it sang in the blood of both her husband and her daughter who bore the same name as the forest on the edge of town.

(There were rumors of deep magic in the Tyler line, magic that was inexplicably tied to the land. No one spoke of it above a whisper but everyone knew.)

Pete Tyler never had the chance to teach his daughter the woodcraft knowledge that he possessed, never had more than a couple of opportunities to introduce her to the woods before he died. He left behind notebooks that Rose scoured for information, gleaning knowledge that was usually taught by a father from scraps of paper and from the whispers of the trees themselves.

The forest made Jackie uneasy and her stomach clenched every time she sent Rose for supplies, knowing her daughter would go deeper into the shadows and stay longer than she'd been instructed.

She worried that one day the forest wouldn't give her back.

Falling prey to the forest and its dangers was the furthest thing from Rose's mind as she neared the path the healer should soon walk. She moved soundlessly through the detritus covering the rich soil and crouched behind a blackberry bush that was just starting to produce viable berries.

Rose made a mental note to come back to the bush in a week to gather some fruit. Her mum would be pleased with the unexpected bounty even if she wasn't pleased with proof that Rose had wandered further into the forest than instructed.

The chatter of the birds and creatures around her started going quiet and Rose knew her healer was approaching. She murmured a quick appeal to the trees and the blackberry bush in front of her to keep her hidden as she peered through the leaves at the still empty path.

Frowning slightly, she pushed forward as much as she dared, mindful of the sharp thorns of the blackberry bush. He should be here by now if the forest had fallen silent. He couldn't have just disappeared.

"You going to lurk behind bushes every time I come through here or do I get to meet my little wood sprite?"

Rose jumped at the voice coming from behind her and quickly spun around to find the source of the strangely accented words. When she got her first look at his face she couldn't keep her jaw from dropping the tiniest bit or her cheeks from coloring.

It was her healer.

She spared a quick glare backwards at the blackberry bush, feeling no remorse from the prickly plant for not keeping her hidden, before turning back to the man in front of her.

"I'm no sprite. Wouldn't have seen me if I were."

"Sprites aren't real," he answered, voice wrapping around the words in a way she'd never heard before.

"Then why did you call me one?" Rose shot back, not bothering to challenge him on his non-belief in magical creatures.

"Wasn't sure you were real either." The words were delivered with a disarming, lopsided smile that lit up his blue eyes.

"Do you normally sneak up on things that you don't think are real, then?" she asked, giving him her best tongue touched grin in addition to her tease.

"Best policy really," he answered, gaze flickering down to her lips and the sliver of visible tongue. "Worked out for me this time at the very least."

"Suppose it did. You sure I'm real yet, though?"

The healer reached out and grabbed her hand, audaciously twining their fingers together and holding them up to chest level so he could pretend to examine them. "Feel pretty real to me."

Rose's eyes dropped down to where his calloused fingers were wrapped around her own, gentle and insistent all at once. Her stomach suddenly felt like it was filled with the blue butterflies she liked to watch in one of the small clearings in the middle of the forest.

"Where are you from?" Rose asked, letting their hands drop without untangling their fingers.

"Going to ask where I'm from before who I am?"

"Never heard anyone talk like you before. Besides, I'm perfectly content with continuing to call you my healer," Rose said, adrenaline lending extra boldness to her words.

"Doctor, actually," he corrected.

"My doctor then," Rose shot back easily. "You going to answer my question?"

His grin widened at being claimed so. "You going to tell me why you're always lurking along the path when I come through here?"

"I asked first."

"I'm from up north, little wood sprite."

"Told you I'm not a wood sprite."

"Don't have anything else to call you, me," he answered with a shrug. "Your turn."

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Was curious about you. Most people take the straight path through so they can spend as little time under these trees as possible. You always take the paths that are the longest."

"Doesn't explain why you call me yours," her healer, her doctor, said, smile turning the tiniest bit wicked.

"S'not what you asked me," she answered, studying his face. He was a mix of odd angles and overlarge features tied together with those arresting blue eyes that seemed like they saw and had seen more than most and those lips that kept drawing her eyes down and formed words in a most delicious manner.

Rose called him hers because she wanted him to be.

"Askin' now."

"And I'm not answering." Rose's smile that accompanied her answer was no less cordial than previously but her tone spoke of teeth that were sharper than they appeared.

"Can I ask for something to call you other than wood sprite?" he continued, unperturbed by her lack of an answer. He brushed his thumb over the patch of skin he could reach, emphasizing that they were still connected.

Rose tilted her head considering. The trees around her were unnaturally quiet, like they were waiting with bated breath to see how this interaction played out instead of offering their unsolicited advice as they often did.

"You may. I'm Rose. Rose Tyler."

"Of the Tyler Forest?" he asked, waving his free hand at the landscape around them.

"Yes."

"Explains why you're so comfortable here," he said with a sharp nod as if she had just provided him with a missing piece of a puzzle he was assembling.

"Why are you less afraid of the shadows here than most?" she questioned. "You already told me that you're not from around here."

He snorted. "I'd have to be a fool to not be afraid of the shadows in this place. But the forest has always felt less forbidding to me than what others describe. It seems to tolerate me so I thank it for that by spending more time in its depths."

Rose gave him an assessing look. Most people didn't talk about the forest as if were sentient. In fact they usually looked at her like she was crazy when she talked that way.

"The trees think you're alright," she acceded after a moment, nodding.

"You have the land sense," her doctor said, wonder coloring his words as he dropped her hand. "I was starting to think that was a myth."

"You make it a habit of studying such things?" Rose asked, wrapping her arm around her midsection and ignoring his implied question.

"I see the non-answers are going to be common between us, Rose Tyler," he said.

Rose shivered at the way her name sounded on his lips. She'd never really understood why people claimed that names were powerful magic until that moment.

"But yes, I study different magics wherever I travel. Have a bit myself and I've always been a curious sort." His shrug made his unusual leather jacket creak with movement.

"Odd sort, more like," Rose said before she thought better of it.

His chuckle was warm and low. "That too."

"So are you actually a proper doctor or healer or are you just going to let me keep assuming that so you sound impressive?" she asked, moving past the topic of magic as fast as she could. It wasn't something she was going to discuss with a stranger, no matter how easy he was to talk to.

"I don't just sound impressive, I am impressive," he protested, making Rose laugh at the offended look on his face.

"And I am a doctor and a healer," he continued, "although I don't know how you figured that out before me telling you."

"Your bag," Rose said, gesturing at the battered satchel hanging off one of his shoulders. "It's bulging and it's the only thing you carry. It's the same with every healer that comes through."

He glanced down at his bag that was indeed stuffed full with medicines and clothing. "Never realized that before."

"I just like to know who's passing through here, learned to recognize the types."

"I assume you're out here gathering," he said, nodding towards the basket still hanging on her arm.

"Yeah, my mum sent me out to get some things." Rose considered her options for a moment before continuing. "If you have any herbs that need to be replenished I can help find them."

He tilted his head to the side, considering. "Could do with some more wolfsheart, if you know where I can find some. Hard to get these days."

The fact that her offer meant spending more time together was foremost on both of their minds even though neither was going to voice the sentiment.

Rose told him that she could probably locate some for him as long as he kept her company while she gathered the herbs she'd come for as well, a deal he readily agreed to.

They were quiet as they started walking through the forest. Rose's companion let her lead the way as they ventured off the path.

"I never asked for your name," Rose commented as she stopped to pick a few mushrooms she'd spotted. She looked up at him expectantly, brushing blonde hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ears.

"I think I'd rather just stay your doctor," he hedged.

"That's not a real name. And you know my name now."

"More exciting than my actual name," he argued.

"I'd like to be the judge of that."

"I promise, John Chesterton is not a very memorable name."

"Rather know it than not, John Chesterton," Rose said, watching his face as she said his name for the first time. He was forever going to be her healer, her doctor, but she needed to know who he was too.

It felt important somehow with the way she was drawn in by him, with the way the forest was practically vibrating with anticipation.

His eyes flashed, brightening to the shade of the sky on a clear summer day before shuttering on a long blink. When their eyes met again they were back to a more subdued, icy blue.

Rose was fairly certain that he could cut people to ribbons with those eyes if he put his mind to it.

"Only fair since you'd already told me your name," he said with a shrug. He leaned back against a tree, watching as she went back to picking mushrooms. "You never did answer my question though."

"The one about myths and nonsense?" Rose asked, face the picture of innocence.

"The one about the magic you obviously have, the connection you have with the forest," he said evenly, pinning her in place with his stare.

"You don't know what you're talking about," she said, standing to meet his stare with one of her own.

"Really do. Like I said, I've spent a lot of time studying magic."

"Doesn't mean you actually know anything," Rose maintained. She turned on her heel and started winding through the trees towards a spot that always had a good selection of herbs, including what her healer was in need of.

"Besides," she said, barely glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was following, "you already admitted that you don't know everything. Said that you were starting to think this land sense you think I have was a myth."

"Didn't claim to know everything."

"It was implied."

"Not my fault you assumed that about me."

Rose rolled her eyes and picked up her pace, grey cloak billowing out behind her.

"In a hurry, wood sprite?"

"Told you I'm not a wood sprite," Rose said, turning to shoot him a glance.

"Move like one," he muttered, obviously not intending for her to hear as he easily matched her speed, even if he couldn't match the way she walked silently.

Louder he said, "I take it you're in these woods a lot, though."

"Yeah. I live in the village just outside of the forest so I come in frequently. Why?"

"Just an observation. You seem to know your way around and I was curious whether it was experience or the magic."

"I think you were underselling yourself when you said you were the curious sort," Rose said, evading the question again.

"Might have been, yeah."

Rose came to a stop then was almost sent sprawling by John running into her back.

"Sorry," he said, reaching out to grab her shoulders and steady her. "Was watching where I was putting my feet and didn't see you stop."

Rose shrugged, dislodging his hands as she gave him a smile. "S'alright. No harm done."

"We stopping for a particular reason?"

"Wolfsheart grows in the shadows here," Rose said. She glanced around and spotted the low-growing herb a few paces away, hidden in the deep shade of an ancient tree. She knelt down and gestured for her healer to join her.

Rose brushed her fingers over the gold-tipped leaves, feather-light. "They're always so bright in the darkness," she whispered.

"Supposed to represent the noble heart of the creature it's named for."

"Mhm. This is one of the only places that I can always find it," Rose admitted. Silently she asked permission to pick the rare herb from the tree she and John were kneeling next to. As soon as it was given in the soft, whispery tones Rose had learned to associate with the oldest trees, she started stripping the leaves off the short stalks.

Her doctor rummaged around in his pack and pulled out an empty glass jar, wordlessly handing it to her to fill.

"Wolfsheart is always more abundant the week after a full moon," Rose said, dropping the leaves into the jar. "And I've found it's usually near the oldest trees."

"Useful to know. Can never find this one and it's dead useful for illnesses nothing else seems to touch," John said.

"It works best against magic," Rose replied, repeating what she'd read in one of her dad's journals and what she'd seen firsthand in the village. "It will cure most fevers and soothe stomachs no matter the cause of the ailment but if the origin of the sickness is magical in nature, wolfsheart is one of the few things that will cut through it."

Her healer's silence drew her eyes to him and the breath left her lungs at the wonder in his eyes.

"I'd never caught that. Definitely wasn't taught at the medical school."

"I've picked up a few things here and there," Rose said with a shrug, cheeks coloring.

"Could probably be a healer in your own right."

"Not a doctor, though. Haven't got the head for proper school."

"Nah, you could do it. Just need the right teacher," he protested, taking the jar back from her to seal and stow it back in his bag.

"Well, Doctor," Rose said, putting a tease in her voice, "you'll just have to come back and see what you can teach me."

"Just might do that," he said. The weight and solemnity of his words belied his crooked grin.

Rose bit her lip and moved to stand instead of answering him. "You should probably get going if you want to be out of the woods by nightfall."

"Even I'm not fool enough to test the shadows after dark."

Rose nodded. She knew she was one of the few that ever entered the woods after dark and even with the connection she shared with the forest, she was always cautious.

They were mostly silent as Rose began to lead them back to the path John had been traveling on. She could hear the trees starting to chatter again, paying less attention to what was happening between her and her doctor than they had earlier.

Feeling less like she was being watched, Rose slowed down so she was walking next to John instead of ahead of him. "Not many people who are actually trained as doctors come through here. Don't most of them set up a practice somewhere?" she asked.

"That's because most of them are more interested in making money than in helping people," he scoffed.

"Not you though?"

"I'm not good at staying in one place," he admitted. "There's so much out there to see and people who can't travel to or afford doctors. I go to them and help where I can."

"And you do all of this on your own?" Rose asked as they came to a halt on the compacted dirt of the path. She made a small indention in the dust with the toe of her shoe, focusing her attention on the ground before glancing back up at John.

He shrugged, one corner of his mouth tightening. "Well, who else is there? Most people want to settle down and start a life and a family, not wander around pretendin' to do good."

"You're not pretending," Rose protested.

"You don't know that."

"I can tell."

He just shook his head, eyes shadowed and unreadable.

Rose wanted to protest further but the tension in his jaw and the warning from the pine tree behind him stilled her tongue.

"You'll be back next month, yes?" she asked instead, picking at the handle of her gathering basket.

"Yeah. Don't know if I'll be on the same path but I'll be back."

"I'll find you," she promised. She always did.

"Until then little wood sprite," he said, smiling down at her, blue eyes back to sparkling.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Told you…"

"Not a wood sprite," he said at the same time as her.

"I know, just having a go at you. I'll see you in a month, Rose Tyler. Don't forget about me before then."

"I get the feeling it would be near impossible to forget you," she said, tongue sneaking into her smile again.

"I thrive on the impossible so don't count it out."

"I won't forget you. I'll be around next time you come through, my Doctor."

She thought his eyes darkened at being claimed again and felt an answering thrill rush through her veins.

He gave her one more crooked grin before setting off down the path, looking back only once when he was almost out of sight.

Rose waited until the curve of the path concealed him from her then took off towards home where she knew Jackie would be angry with worry from how long she'd been gone, pointedly ignoring the teasing of the young trees who were accusing her of being all starry eyed over the strange traveller.


	3. Chapter Two

"Rose! I was getting worried!" Jackie exclaimed, hurrying over to her daughter the moment she walked in the door of their cottage.

Rose gripped her mum's arms, surprised by the intensity of Jackie's distress. She'd expected to walk in to a lecture on going further into the woods and staying longer than necessary, not to Jackie in an almost panic.

"What's wrong? I wasn't gone any longer than usual." Rose said, leaning over to set her basket of herbs and mushrooms on the table. She turned back to her mum and saw the fear behind her eyes. "What happened?"

Jackie shook her head. "Nothin' yet, love. But someone new's come into the village and I've got a bad feeling about them and you weren't home yet. I was just worried."

"I'm sorry I got you worried," Rose said, pulling Jackie into a hug. "I took a little longer than I meant to."

Jackie pulled out of the hug and pushed at her shoulder with a snort. "No, you didn't."

Rose laughed. "Yeah, alright. But I did get some more wolfsheart today, I know we were running low."

"Why don't you go put everything up in the stillroom?"

Rose picked up her basket again but didn't move towards the back room. "What about the stranger's got you all on edge? Usually you're the first one to invite someone new around for the latest news from abroad."

Jackie's mouth hardened into a line. "I've just got a bad feeling about 'im. Something about his eyes makes me distrust him."

Rose bit her bottom lip and headed towards the back room. Her mum's instincts about people were usually good but she did have a tendency to rush to judgment based on them. She'd have to wait to see if she spotted this stranger herself, maybe ask the forest if he'd gone through there and made any impression.

The trees had a good impression of her Doctor, of John. She wondered what Jackie would think if she met him. She bit back a smile at the thought. The Doctor would have a hell of a time with trying to talk circles around her mum but they'd probably get around to swapping healing lore before long. They could bond over that.

Rose shook her head as she bundled herbs for drying. One actual conversation with her healer and she was imagining how her mother would like him. She always was one for getting ahead of herself.

She was putting up the wolfsheart when she heard someone knock on the door. It was too authoritative to be any of their neighbors and Rose was halfway out of the stillroom when Jackie caught her eye and shooed her back inside, motioning for her to shut the door as well.

The worry was back in Jackie's eyes so Rose did as she was told. As soon as the stillroom door shut with a soft click, she pressed her ear against the worn wood, anxious to know what was happening out in the main room.

The voices were muffled but she could make out her mum's clipped tone and the oily smooth pronunciation of a stranger talking about some sort of healing remedy for a deep bruise.

"Let me make up a poultice for you to take with you. I've got what I need in my stillroom." Jackie's voice was clear as she turned towards the door Rose was pressed against.

"I'd love to see where you do your magic," the oily voice said.

Rose shuddered. Something about the man's voice rubbed her the wrong way and made her long for the safety of the forest. Jackie was definitely right to distrust him.

"Nothing magic about it," Jackie said, steel in her tone leaving no room for argument. "But I don't like strangers in my stillroom. I'll be out in a just a mo' with your poultice."

Rose backed up from the door, positioning herself behind it so that she wouldn't be seen when Jackie slipped inside. The two women shared a look laden with meaning before Jackie began to assemble her bruise remedy.

She crushed a handful of parsley with her mortar and pestle and then added some mint and lavender to soothe the senses more than the injury. She finished it off with a sprinkle of water Rose had gathered from a hollow stump after the first rainfall of spring.

Jackie tied it all up in a cloth and stepped out of the stillroom two minutes after she'd entered, closing the door firmly behind her.

Rose heard them Jackie explaining how to best use the remedy and then discuss the price briefly before the front door opened and shut.

A few minutes passed before Jackie opened the door to the stillroom. "You can come out now if you're done putting up what you gathered today."

Rose leaned against the counter, watching her mother closely. She looked exhausted after the encounter with their customer. "That was the stranger in town you were worried about, yeah?"

"Unfortunately. Apparently someone pointed him our direction to get a poultice."

"Who is he?"

"Hopefully, we never find out," Jackie said with finality. "Now, why don't you show me what else you picked up today when you went further into the forest than what I asked you to?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rose stayed close to the cottage for the next couple of days. Word was the stranger was still hanging around town. He apparently wasn't talking to anyone but he paid handsomely for room and board so the people of Powell let him be. As far as anyone could fathom, he was waiting for something or someone, although what he possibly thought could happen in somewhere as isolated as their village was beyond them.

By late afternoon of the third day, Rose couldn't stand sitting around any longer and made her way towards the forest with her gathering basket. Her sturdy grey cloak kept the unseasonably brisk breeze at bay and she practically ran to the treeline.

The hood of her cloak fell around her shoulders and as it did, Rose felt a chill steal over her that had nothing to do with autumn quickly closing in. Someone was watching her. The young oaks around her, steady and protective, didn't like it any more than she did, and they filled her head with their buzzing concern.

She slipped further inside the forest, sticking to the path until she was sure she was out of the sight of whoever was observing her. The moment the trees around her exuded relief at her being unobserved, Rose set off at a run towards a clearing half a mile from any path, knowing no one would be able to find her there without the help of the forest or someone who knew it as well as her.

By the time she got there, her heart was pounding and she'd almost managed to run away from the feeling of a cold gaze sliding over her body from afar. The chatty bushes and saplings in the clearing did the rest to help distract her and banish the memory for the time being.

She returned home calmer than when she left but with a feeling of foreboding that even the forest hadn't been able to erase.

The next day, the stranger left town without a word.

If he passed through the forest on his way in or out of Powell, none of the trees or bushes would speak to Rose about his passing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rose ran to the woods, blue cloak fluttering behind her. Autumn had set in fully now and the forest floor was covered in a damp blanket of red, gold, and brown. The chill in the air stung her cheeks as she wound her way along the paths but she barely felt it in her excitement.

John should be back today. Or rather, he _was_ back if the gossiping trees were correct. This time she was determined to sneak up on him instead of the other way around. If the trees would just tell her what path he was on, she was sure she could pull it off.

Finally a group of maples told her through the arboreal version of giggles that the healer had just passed them. Rose hurried in their direction as some ash trees chimed in from further down the path to confirm what the maples said.

She was grinning bright and wide as she stepped soundlessly onto the path behind John. She could tell he was scanning the underbrush on either side of the path, keeping an eye out for her.

"Looking for something, Doctor?" Rose called out.

He didn't jump but it was a close thing. When he turned to face her, there was a smile as big as her own on his face. "Someone, actually. You seen any wood sprites around here? Looking for one about this high," he put a hand up, indicating her height, "blonde, bit gorgeous."

Rose's heart skipped a beat. She tucked her tongue into the corner of her smile. "Just a bit?"

"Maybe more than a bit," John replied, smile not fading at all as he walked towards her.

"Mmm, don't know any wood sprites of that description," she said.

He reached and linked their hands together, pulling her closer. "You're sure about that?"

"Pretty sure, yeah."

"Shame. I'll have to keep looking then." John made like he was pulling away from her but Rose tightened her grip on his hand.

"Don't you dare."

Rose closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him, hands bumping against the bulging pack on back. It didn't feel like it was the first time she had hugged him as she rested her head against his woolen jumper. It felt like she'd been doing this forever.

John's hands were tentative as he splayed them on her back, holding her to him.

"I missed you," he admitted quietly, mouth just above her ear.

Rose pulled back just enough to look up at him. "You barely even know me," she said, watching his face carefully.

"Are you saying you didn't miss me?"

She scoffed. "Of course I missed you, you plonker."

"And you barely know me," he pointed out.

Alright, fair enough," she conceded. She stepped out of his embrace but reached out to reclaim his hand. "So, Doctor, tell me about where you've been travelling? I know a place we can sit for a while if you've got time."

"I always have time for you."

"Smooth talker all of a sudden," Rose teased.

John made a face. "You'd be the first to accuse me of that. Usually stumbling over my words when I'm not talking about medicine, me."

"Haven't done with me."

"You seem to be an exception to the rule, Rose Tyler," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Good. So, where have you been lately?" she asked as she led him off the path. There was a small stream nearby that she sometimes swam in. It was too cold today but it was still a pretty spot to sit and talk.

"Oh, here and there. Nowhere particularly exciting," John hedged.

"Everywhere's exciting to me," Rose insisted. "I've never left Powell except to come into the forest."

"I don't think I've ever been to Powell," he mused.

"You haven't. Everyone in town would know if you'd been through."

She shuddered at the thought of the last stranger who'd passed through. He hadn't been back yet but she couldn't shake the feeling that he would be.

"Are you cold?" John asked, looking down at her with concern.

"Nah, just had a bad thought, is all."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Really. It's nothing. The conversation just reminded me of the last outsider who came through town," Rose elaborated.

"Didn't care for them?"

"Gave me the creeps even though I never got a proper look at him," Rose admitted. The sound of the water was growing louder and she picked up her pace, dragging John along with her in an attempt to forestall any further questions.

Rose found the old stump by the stream and took her usual seat on it. John set his pack down and then lowered himself to the ground, laying on his side with the grace of a cat and completely heedless of the dampness of the forest floor from last night's rain.

"Tell me about your travels?" Rose asked again.

This time he relented. "What do you want to know, curious little wood sprite?"

"Everything."

Rose leaned forward, propping her elbows on knees, waiting for whatever story he chose to tell. She'd imagined a million of them all the times she'd shadowed him through the forest. She could tell even then by the wear on his pack and the ease of his long stride that he travelled often and far.

She'd wanted to know everything about him then. Now the need was even stronger.

"Went west to the Forest of Cheem, have you heard of it?"

Rose shook her head.

"It's different kind of forest than this one, much less feared. There's a whole city's worth of people who live within it, coexisting with the trees and the flow of nature," he said, admiration clear in his voice. "It's fantastic, it really is. If you don't know the community is there, you'd never even see them with how they've integrated themselves. It's almost like they've become trees, somehow."

"Find any wood sprites there?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Her tone was a little more arch than she intended but her healer just chuckled, low and deep.

"No wood sprites. Had the local equivalent of a princess proposition me, though."

"And you said you weren't a smooth talker!"

"She was the one doing the propositioning, not me! I thought she'd just been being nice, helping me with finding the patients who needed attention. Figured she flirted with everyone if she flirting with this daft old face."

Rose nudged him with her foot. "S'not daft. Anyone with eyes would be flirting with you."

 _Or ears_ , she thought to herself. She loved the rumble of his voice, the unique way his tongue wrapped around words and the cadence of his accent.

John just shook his head, self-deprecating smile clear to read.

"I mean it," Rose insisted.

The copse of alders across the stream snickered at her and she shot them a mental reproach hoping that they heard her. She didn't need the persnickety trees commenting on her own attempts at flirting.

He smiled at her, blue eyes brightening as her sincerity registered.

"You know," he started, speaking in a casual tone that did was obviously put on, "despite the relationship the people of Cheem have with their forest, no one quite interacted with it the way you do with these trees."

Rose froze and then carefully, consciously loosened her muscles, trying to appear casual herself. "Maybe I'm just an odd duck," she offered.

"Or you've got the land magic that most are still convinced is a myth."

Rose just fixed him with a glare.

"Alright, alright, I'll leave it be for now. I'm just curious. I've been studying the sparse accounts and legends of it for years and you're the first person I've ever come across that might be able to confirm or dismiss my theories."

"So I'm just a science experiment, then?" Rose asked, pain lancing through her chest. It hurt more than she could have anticipated to realize that maybe her healer was not interested in her the same way she was in him.

How could he not feel the pull dragging them together? Did he not feel like there were live sparks tumbling through his veins and heating him through when they were touching? Was she in this all on her own?

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ she thought, looking away from him in the split second after she asked her question. He was a fully accredited doctor, of course he wouldn't have any interest in girl from a tiny village who wasn't even a proper healer.

"No!" The word burst out of him with unexpected force.

Rose looked back at him, questioning look at her face.

John moved to a kneeling position, looking up at her. "You're not an experiment to me, Rose. Not at all."

"No?"

"No." He kept her gaze, expression serious until he was sure she believed him and then cracked a small smile. "Besides, one doesn't turn down a proposition from a princess so they can make their date with a science experiment."

Rose laughed. "Alright, I guess I'll believe that."

"Good, because it's true."

Silence fell between them and Rose could hear the alders laughing again. At least she didn't have to worry about them sharing the whole story with any of the more gossipy trees. The alders liked to maintain an air of mystery and just talked amongst themselves.

There were some birches nearby that might tell the tale though. She groaned mentally. The forest wasn't going to let her hear the end of this for _days_.

"Are you heading back to the east edge of the forest?" Rose asked.

John nodded.

"You should probably start heading that way if you want to stay on the path you were on and still make it out by nightfall."

"Good plan."

"Then follow me, Doctor." She stood and waited for him to grab his pack and do the same before linking their hands again.

"You always going to call me Doctor?" he asked, sounding amused.

Rose looked up at him. "Didn't sound like you were too fond of your name. Would you rather me call you John?"

He shook his head. "No, I just... I'm not used to people listening when I ask them to call me something else, I suppose."

"Well, you were my healer for months before I talked to you so switching to calling you my Doctor was easy," she said, beaming up at him.

Just like she'd hoped, the tips of his ears turned pink and his eyes darkened a touch at her claiming him as hers again.

Rose got them back to the path and then dropped his hand, unsure now of what to do. It was difficult to part ways when she wanted to do anything but walk away from him.

He nodded towards the small basket she had with her. "Have I kept you from your gathering?"

She shook her head. "I just brought it in case I spotted something I wanted."

"And you didn't?"

Rose flicked her eyes down his body and then back up to meet his gaze. "I did, but I don't think my basket's big enough."

His eyes darkened as her words sunk in and Rose felt a thrill go through her at knowing she'd caused this reaction. John reached out and pulled her against him for another hug.

"I'll be back next month, my little wood sprite."

"Not so little," she protested, not moving from the embrace.

"Littler than me," he said, resting his chin on her head in demonstration.

Reluctantly, she started to pull away after another few moments. The days were getting shorter and she didn't want John to be in the woods after dark because of her. John's hold on her didn't let her get very far.

Rose tilted her head up and let out a tiny gasp at the intensity of his gaze. She could feel his thumb rub against her back through her cloak, grounding and comforting as he searched her face for something.

Rose just let her heart shine though her eyes and hoped he found whatever he was looking for.

Slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, John leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek, right off the corner of her mouth.

He pulled back after a couple of seconds that had slowed into a small eternity.

"I'll see you soon, my Rose," he said, voice rougher than it had been moments earlier.

"Until next time, Doctor," she answered. Knowing that if she stayed even a breath longer, she would jump back into his arms and do her best to kiss him senseless, Rose smiled at him and then turned and darted off into the trees.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

John watched her go and let out a long breath as she seemingly vanished after taking a couple steps off the path. If his pulse wasn't still pounding and his lips tingling from their almost-kiss, he would think she might well be a vision, a creation of his imagination or something that haunted these mysterious woods to lure travelers off the path.

But Rose was real and he had just almost kissed her. He ran a hand down his face, fingertips lingering on his lips. He'd wanted to haul her against him and snog her properly. The way her golden-brown eyes had darkened and shimmered as she looked up at him, breath catching, told him that she had expected him to, wanted him to.

He groaned and started walking down the path. Rose had been right to say that they barely knew each other but it was hard to remember that particular fact when she was grinning at him and bantering like they'd known each other their whole lives. She had to be six or seven years younger than him but it didn't seem to matter.

Something about her just drew him in though, a gravity all her own. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her this entire month even though they had only a half hours acquaintance. The woman was magical, in more ways than one.

John grimaced as remembered her reaction to him pushing about her land sense. He had not intended to make her feel like all she was to him was a curiosity or experiment. He did desperately want to know more about the magic she wasn't talking about and her connection to the forest, and there were people who he was aware of in the magical community who would treat her as an experiment, but he was far more interested in her as a person.

The hurt painted on her face and the doubts that had slumped her shoulders in the wake of his questions were going to haunt him, he thought. He never wanted to make her look like that again.

He much preferred her sparkling, wild smile or the look of breathless anticipation right before he kissed her.

Those were expressions he planned on being the cause of again. The latter one in particular, he knew he would be dreaming about for the next month.

Although magic involving time was one of his specialties, he knew he couldn't make the days until their next meeting go by any faster, but it didn't stop him from wishing that he could.


End file.
